Contents
1. Message
from the Registrar: Professor Sue Bailey - The development of
ICD11
2. Appointment
of the College Lead on Workforce
3. New College
publication: Good Psychiatric Practice: 3rd
edition
4. Update from
Northern Ireland: Dr Cathal Cassidy completes his term as Northern
Ireland Division Chair
5. The Scoping Group
on Education in Psychiatry report
6. The Boorman Review
into the health and well-being of the NHS Workforce: call for
evidence
7. Adults with
autistic spectrum conditions
8. PMTEB National
Survey of Trainers: Consultants and GP trainers: it’s time to have
your say!
9. Online Self-Harm
Study
10. 2nd Reading
of the Welfare Reform Bill in the House of Lords
11. Equality Bill
published
12. Bradley Report launched
- Mentally ill prisoners better off outside
13. New Research from the
Financial Services Authority suggests that moving from low to
average levels of financial capability improves both psychological
well-being and life satisfaction
14. Boost in innovation in
the NHS: Over £220 million to be made available
15. First Steps for
ContactPoint: Online Directory for people who work with children
and young people
16. The 2009 Bupa
Foundation Awards: Calls for entries
17. GMC: Have your say on
rules for Doctors
18. Department of Health
appoints Capita to manage new certification scheme for health and
social care information
19. What’s New
Online?
1. Message
from the Registrar: Professor Sue Bailey - The development of
ICD11
Professor Traolach Brugha is closely linked into both the
ICD11 and the DSM5 review process. He will be
carrying out a survey on the current diagnostic categories and
their usefulness, and at this stage is contacting and talking to
the Chairs of Divisions, Faculties and Sections for their
input.
ICD10 promises to be a major revision whilst maintaining
compatibility with previous versions. ICD10 itself is a member
of the World Health Organisation’s 'family' of international
classifications which provide the basic building blocks for health
information systems.
It is particularly important for all members across the UK and
through the International Divisions to contribute to this process
on this occasion, not only because it effects all our daily work
but also because the WHO on this occasion have chosen Mental and
Addictive Disorders as a main focus for update and revision.
In each area of healthcare the health information will be
systematically reviewed in 3 interconnected main lines.
- A scientific stream – scientific
evidence
- A clinical stream – clinical utility
and heath system utility
- A public health stream – public health
usefulness
From a personal perspective, as secretary of European Society
for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, I see an important part of
this process is to become as fully involved as possible in the
field trials. I also believe it is important to feed
interlinked topic advisory groups e.g. for Child Psychiatrists to
feed into the Child and Adolescent Health stream to ensure that we
support the development of the classification overall which
supports the treatment needs and understanding of intervention and
holistic care for those with mental illness and/or learning
disabilities.
I know we all have very busy working lives but I hope that you
will contribute actively to the work being carried out by Professor
Traolach Brugha and use every opportunity to feed into all parts of
ICD10
process.
College News
2.
Appointment of the College Lead on Workforce
The College is looking to appoint a Lead
on Workforce issues. The Lead will play a key role in:
1.
Developing strategies for Workforce.
2.
Planning the number of doctors in mental health by tracking trainee
figures from medical students through to consultants and
beyond.
3.
Representing the College internally and externally as an authority
on the specific areas of work undertaken.
It is expected that the person appointed will
be available for at least half day a week. They may be asked to
represent the President at meetings whether related to this brief
or not.
Application Process: Members
should submit a CV and covering letter to Professor Dinesh Bhugra,
President. Please email: pconlon@rcpsych.ac.uk by
19th June 2009. Interviews will take place on the
morning of Friday 26th June 2009. You will be expected
to take up the position on 1st July 2009.
3.
New College publication: Good Psychiatric Practice:
3rd edition
The fully-updated third edition of
Good Psychiatric Practice is now available. It is aligned
to the GMC’s Good Medical Practice (2006), which sets out
standards for all medical practitioners.
The new document (CR154) replaces the second
edition of Good Psychiatric Practice (CR125). It has been
revised with the GMC’s approach to revalidation in mind, and sets
out standards for general good practice that psychiatrists will
need to meet for recertification in the UK.
Robert Jackson, Head of Professional
Standards, said: “I urge all psychiatrists to pay close attention
to the new edition. These are the standards that all psychiatrists
will have to comply with for revalidation, and are the standards
against which the College will be devising assessments for
recertification.”
Areas of practice include: Core attributes;
Good clinical care; Maintaining good practice; Teaching, training,
appraising and assessing; Relationships with patients; Consent;
Confidentiality; Working with colleagues; Working with management;
research; and Probity.
4.
Update from Northern Ireland: Dr Cathal Cassidy
completes his term as Northern Ireland Division Chair
Over four years at the helm of the Northern
Ireland Division, Dr Cathal Cassidy has worked to make psychiatry
more accessible to the public, to politicians, to other
professionals, and to people who experience mental health problems
and
those who care for them.
"During his term as Chair, Cathal has
provided leadership to the profession. This has been important
during this time of change." said Dr Paddy Moynihan, Honorary
Secretary of the Northern Irish Division.
"We are now in the Post-Bamford era and
while his predecessor Fred Browne led us through the Review, Cathal
has been instrumental in leading the profession in responding to
its opportunities and challenges." he said. "He has focussed on a
strongly inclusive agenda, bringing together all professions as
well as users and carers to develop and improve Mental Health
Services."
"During Cathal's term as Chair, the offices
of The Northern Ireland Division moved to Clifton House. This is
one of Belfast's oldest buildings and provides a beautiful
environment in which to carry out the work of the Division as well
as to host meetings with other agencies, said Dr Moynihan
said
"A reformed Northern Ireland Assembly has
provided opportunity to influence Government, and Dr Cassidy
capitalised on this by bringing on board an external Public Affairs
and Communications Consultant to ensure the voice of psychiatrists
is heard by politicians and in the media. The College has
instigated combined lobbying from other professional Colleges for
improved mental health services, both through the media and through
direct contact with the Health Minister and health officials."
5. The Scoping Group on Education
in Psychiatry report
The Scoping Group
on Education in Psychiatry report covers :
- Curricular support which includes a
core curriculum, integrating psychiatry into the undergraduate
curriculum, updates on work undertake regarding student attitudes,
the development of a student website
- Support for clinical teachers
including the findings of a survey of clinical teachers, clinical
teaching workshop and setting standards for clinical teachers
- Outcomes of the Scoping Group
including an outline of the dissemination meeting in November
2008
- Recommendation for future developments
in this area.
Please do feel free to contact Dr Nisha Dogra
on nd13@le.ac.uk on any aspect
of the report.
Consultations
6.
The Boorman Review into the health and well-being of the
NHS Workforce: call for evidence
The independent review, led
by Dr Steve Boorman, is a response to Dame Carol Black’s report
into the health and well-being of the UK’s working age population.
It will investigate the health and well-being of NHS staff
specifically. It will produce interim findings in the summer, and
final recommendations by the end of 2009.
The review builds on the clear commitments
made in the NHS Constitution to maintain the health and well-being
of all NHS staff. One of the Constitution’s central pledges
to staff is to provide support and opportunities for staff to
maintain their health, well-being and safety.
The ‘Call for
Evidence’ is seeking information from Trusts, leaders and
experts from across the NHS on the effectiveness of a range of
approaches to staff health and well-being. Alongside the Call
for Evidence, there is an opportunity for individual staff
to share
their views on health and well-being in their organisation, to
get an understanding of the working life, health and well-being of
staff in the NHS. This will be a critical part of the final
recommendations.
7.
Adults with autistic spectrum conditions
The Department of Health
recently launched a
public consultation to identify priority areas for action to
drive improvements in NHS and local authority services for adults
with autistic spectrum conditions (ASC).
Guidance has also been published which is part of a programme
of work to ensure that people with ASC receive the right support to
live life independently and to the full, exercising choice and
control over decisions that affect their lives.
8.
PMTEB National Survey of Trainers:
Consultants and GP trainers: it’s time to have your
say!
All consultants, GP trainers and GPs with
foundation trainees are asked to submit a form to ensure we can
provide useful results that will help us quality assure the
training you provide.
Why every submission counts. By completing
the survey you will ensure
that we can:
- Provide reports on training by specialties,
deaneries and NHS organisations
- See how your training standards compare
against others
- Give consultants the chance to voice their
concerns at local and national levels.
9.
Online Self-Harm Study
Do you wonder about how to help young people who self-harm? Have
you qualified in the last 5 years OR are you a psychiatric trainee?
If so, you may be interested in taking part in a research project
exploring the place of health professionals in online communities
for those who self-harm. Follow this link for
further information.
Parliamentary Updates
10.
2nd Reading of the Welfare Reform Bill in the
House of Lords
The
Welfare Reform Bill had its 2nd Reading in the House
of Lords. Peers debated some of the key College concerns around the
way that the Bill would work for people with mental health
problems. The College was mentioned on a number of occasions, where
our briefing was highlighted.
11.
Equality Bill published
Harriet Harman recently published the
Equality
Bill, to make Britain ‘stronger, fairer and more equal.’ The
Bill sets out new laws which will aim to narrow the gap between
rich and poor; require business to report on gender pay; outlaw age
discrimination; and will strengthen Britain’s anti-discrimination
legislation. The Bill will simplify the law which, over the last
four decades, has become complex and difficult to navigate. The
Equality Bill will strengthen our equality law by:
- Introducing a new public sector duty to
consider reducing socio-economic inequalities;
- Putting a new Equality Duty on public
bodies;
- Using public procurement to improve
equality;
- Banning age discrimination outside the
workplace;
- Introducing gender pay reports;
- Extending the scope to use positive
action;
- Strengthening the powers of employment
tribunals;
- Protecting carers from discrimination;
- Offering new mothers stronger protection when
breastfeeding;
- Banning discrimination in private clubs;
and
- Strengthening protection from discrimination
for disabled people.
Read the College briefing produced when the Bill was announced
last year.
Other News
12. Bradley
Report launched - Mentally ill prisoners better off
outside
Lord Bradley’s recent review stated that keeping offenders in
the community where they live, instead of locking them up, would
help them get treatment and save the Government money. Prison
reform groups say up to 2,000 inmates on short sentences would be
better off outside. “Vulnerable" defendants should be given
extra support to reduce "stress" in court, and help them understand
what is happening. Currently only witnesses and victims are
eligible for assistance.
He also called for a more in-depth
examination of the evidence on not jailing some criminals with
mental health problems. "Early indications suggest that there are
significant cost savings to be made for the criminal justice system
by increasing the use of community sentence alternatives for
individuals with mental health problems or learning
disabilities."
The review was commissioned by Justice
Secretary Jack Straw in December 2007 and makes 80 recommendations
about improvements throughout the criminal justice system,
including better training for staff to help them identify and deal
with mental health issues. The NHS should take over control of
health services in police custody suites, the report said.
13. New Research from the
Financial Services Authority suggests that moving
from low to average levels of financial capability improves both
psychological well-being and life satisfaction
New research from the Financial
Services Authority creates a deeper understanding of how
financial capability affects individuals. Some key findings
include:
- Moving from low to average
levels of financial capability improves psychological well-being by
5.6% and life satisfaction by 2.4%. It also decreases the
likelihood of suffering from anxiety or depression by 15%.
- For the divorced and the
unemployed, the relationship is even stronger- the same change in
financial capability leads to an 8.8% improvement in
well-being.
- Earning £1000 more a year
improves life satisfaction by only 0.2%- 12 times smaller than the
impact of improved financial capability- and the effect of a
decrease in financial capability is almost comparable to the effect
of being divorced (which leads to a 3% reduction in life
satisfaction and 8.3% reduction in well-being).
14. Boost in innovation in the
NHS: Over £220 million to be made available
A £220 million fund will be made available to
encourage innovation within the NHS, Health Minister Lord Darzi
announced today, during an event at the Science Museum in London to
mark the launch of Innovation
for a Healthier Future, a series of initiatives to nurture and
reward innovation within the NHS.
Building on the Government's firm commitment
to create an innovative health service, England's ten SHAs will
each receive £2 million this year, and £5 million in each of the
following four years to support frontline NHS staff in developing
innovative ideas.
15. First Steps for
ContactPoint: Online Directory for people who work with children
and young people
The first steps to activate ContactPoint, the
Government’s online directory for people who work with children and
young people, are underway. ContactPoint is being created as a tool
to improve the wellbeing of all children and young people, to help
keep them safe and ensure that no child slips through the net.
It provides a quick way for a practitioner to
find out who else is working with the same child. This will enable
practitioners across the children’s workforce to work together when
they need to, and provide a more co-ordinated approach to meet a
child’s needs.
Nineteen ‘early adopter’ organisations (17
local authorities in the North West plus Barnardo’s and KIDS) have
trained their ContactPoint management teams on the system and are
making the it ready for practitioner use.
Four primary care trusts and four Acute NHS
Trusts are working with some of these local authorities to
demonstrate how ContactPoint will work for health practitioners and
to feed back into an early evaluation process.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists has
contributes to the development of ContactPoint with the Department
for Children Schools and Families. For further information see web
link above, alternatively, contact your local authority or Bree.Verity@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
16. The 2009 Bupa
Foundation Awards: Calls for entries
The Bupa
Foundation awards are made annually in recognition of
excellence in medical research and healthcare in seven
categories:
- Care of the elderly
- Clinical excellence
- Communication
- Epidemiology
- Medical research
- Occupational health
- Patient safety
Each award is £15,000. This is divided into two parts: £5,000
will be paid direct to the individual or team members and £10,000
will be for use to further the award winner's project.
17. GMC: Have your
say on rules for Doctors
The General Medical Council (GMC) is
seeking volunteers to give their opinions on a range of health
issues. Feedback will help to inform and influence the
policies and decisions of the GMC.
25 members of the public and 25 registered
medical practitioners will make up the first ever GMC Reference
Community. While volunteers will not be asked to make policy
decisions, they will be asked for their opinion on a range of key
GMC topics such as:
- the ethical guidelines that doctors are required to
follow;
- the GMC website to make sure it is clear and easy to use,
especially for members of the public.
- the process by which a doctor is regularly appraised.
Each volunteer would ideally give around 20 to
30 hours per year but this could vary according to individual
circumstances.
Candidates should not represent the opinion of
an organisation as the GMC already has systems in place to engage
with professional bodies and interest groups.
18. Department of
Health appoints Capita to manage new certification scheme for
health and social care information
The
Department of Health (DH) has appointed Capita to manage a new
certification scheme – The Information Standard – as part of a
drive to ensure that the public and patients have access to good
quality information that will help them make confident and informed
decisions about their health and social care.
The Information Standard, formerly known as
the
Information Accreditation Scheme, will be launched later this
summer. The College is currently seeking accreditation for its
series of Help is at Hand leaflets.
19.
What’s New Online?
This module aims to help you understand
how your views on diversity impact on your interactions with
the world, and in particular, how this may affect your work within
psychiatry.
- New books from RCPsych
Publications
Modern Management of Perinatal Psychiatric Disorders –
by Carol Henshaw, John Cox and Joanne Barton. This is a
comprehensive overview of mental health problems associated with
pregnancy and the year following delivery. An essential text
for trainees and useful for other mental health
professionals.
Am I Going to Die? - from the Books Beyond Words series by
Sheila Hollins. Pictures in the BBW titles help
explain difficult situations and emotions to people with
learning/intellectual disabilities. John has a terminal illness and
this book tells his story, dealing with both physical deterioration
and the emotional aspects of dying in an honest and moving
way.
Nidotherapy: Harmonising the Environment with the
Patient - by Peter Tyrer. A guide to this new concept
in mental health. When other therapies have had little effect,
nidotherapy involves analysing a person’s environment and changing
it to suit them, so that their well-being and sense of belonging
are improved.
Book-signing session: Tues 2 June at
1pm, College stand (Annual Meeting Exhibition).